Elvis Presley - So many albums - like an insane amount of albums!

I would say that his first Memphis album is a verified classic and can stand easily with Pet Sounds. (I am an equal Beach Boy and Elvis freak).

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It might be a great album and recognized as such in some quarters, but - rightly or wrongly- most people won't think of it as being in the same class as Pet Sounds or Sgt. Pepper or Exile. I think that it would be held in higher esteem had it included Suspicious Minds and Kentucky Rain...just as Elvis Is Back! would be an undisputed, universally-acknowledged classic had it included It's Now Or Never, Are You Lonesome Tonight?, and even Stuck On You in place of its lesser tracks.

I've always thought that that was a bit overstated. I mean, he recorded songs like Hey Jude, Don't Think Twice, It's Alright, and Help Me Make It Through The Night. There's no way he (or Parker) was able to get publishing on those songs. If Elvis had REALLY wanted to record a song, he could have.

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Clearly there were exceptions, but typically, at the beginning of a session, Elvis was presented with stacks of songs submitted by his publishing entities, Felton Jarvis, and other associates. Elvis had little flexibility when it came to material, or at the very least, was resigned to recording from his submissions. While theoretically he was free to record songs of his interest, he generally worked with what was presented to him.

Songs like "Hey Jude" and "Don't Think Twice" were on Elvis' mind during their respective sessions and were laid down on tape, and neither were properly developed because the producer at each session was unprepared (at a minimum, there was no sheet music for Elvis follow lyrically). Moman placated Elvis and let him get "Hey Jude" out of his system before turning to the session's real work. Jarvis taped at least two long-winded jams of Elvis and the band jamming to "Don't Think Twice," but never attempted to arrange the song into anything workable. Later, out of desperation, Jarvis released both cuts commercially.

Seriously - you need Elvis Country, That's The Way It Is right off the bat if you want to immerse in the 70s. It never really got better than this. Come back and tell use how you liked those and we will go from there.

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While "That's The Way It Is" is generally respected among many Elvis enthusiasts, upon closer scrutiny, I think it contains a number of deficiencies. There is a noticeable drop in the overall quality of material in comparison to 1969, and no matter how hard Felton Jarvis tried to emulate the sound and feel of the American Sound recordings, he was unable to pull it off. He simply did not have the same musicians, studio, or in this case, Chips Moman to bring out Elvis' best (Elvis starts to over-sing on a number of recordings during the Nashville sessions). While the American Sound recordings had plenty of orchestral overdubs (some which Jarvis oversaw), the arrangements for the Nashville 1970 recordings moved much further toward a pedestrian, schmaltzy, MOR sound. That is not to say there are not some quality studio performances on the album, but the album is essentially saved by the live cuts. One suspects that an entire album of studio material would have been much closer to the abominable "Love Letters" LP that followed "That's The Way It Is." "Elvis Country" on the other hand is gem.

Yes, even his studio albums contained mostly songs that were either published by his companies OR the songwriters relinquished 1/3 (sometimes 1/2) of the publishing rights. That loosened up a bit in the mid 70s. Felton brought in a few songs through his connections that Elvis' publishing had no stake in. In some cases the publishing deal was finite. For example had Elvis not released One Night in time, he would have lost out on the publishing share.

He may have only made 24 in his lifetime but I have 41. I love the 4-record set Worldwide Gold Award Hits and the 8-record box set Elvis Aron Presley, as well as all of his gospel albums, especially the great His Hand In Mine. As for his '70s work, my favorite of his '70s albums is I'm 10,000 Years Old: Elvis Country. It definitely shows his country roots but also contains some of the most rocking music he ever recorded, disproving the belief that he no longer rocked in the '70s. All the songs are segued together with fragments of his rollicking rendition of the folk song "I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago." IMO, it's not just his best album of the '70s but one of the best of his career.

You beat me to it! "From Elvis In Memphis" is probably his best non-compilation album, and a stone classic by any standard. It is brilliant from start to finish, and El is very engaged. I would also give a nod to "Elvis Is Back", his first LP after leaving the Army -- not quite as good as "From Elvis...", but pretty close. And of course, the first album.

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Yes, Elvis Is Back should be considered a classic. As should Elvis Country. Amazing stuff.

It might be a great album and recognized as such in some quarters, but - rightly or wrongly- most people won't think of it as being in the same class as Pet Sounds or Sgt. Pepper or Exile. I think that it would be held in higher esteem had it included Suspicious Minds and Kentucky Rain...just as Elvis Is Back! would be an undisputed, universally-acknowledged classic had it included It's Now Or Never, Are You Lonesome Tonight?, and even Stuck On You in place of its lesser tracks.

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Very interesting that multiple people offer Elvis Is Back as a certified “classic”. I would have to say that even without those singles EIB is a classic. Maybe in my world, though. It’s a shame that Elvis’ singles weren’t included on the albums. Just one of many bizarre things that Colonel handled in a bizarre way.

This list drives me nuts as far as his ranking are concerned. Elvis Is Back! and From Elvis In Memphis do not even make it in his top five albums of all time. The former album does not even make it in his top ten best albums ever. He has a slew of very average to decent soundtrack albums and compilations ahead of the very excellent Elvis Thats The Way It Is album. Oh, and the truly outstanding Elvis Country album cannot even make it higher than number 40 on his list. He gets a few things right near the top of the list, but a lot of these albums are not ranked accurately as far as I am concerned.

I think the list just reflects the esthetics of the music critics that compiled the list. They seem to have a higher respect for the soundtrack material than many of his fans or more mainstream music critics do.

I think the list just reflects the esthetics of the music critics that compiled the list. They seem to have a higher respect for the soundtrack material than many of his fans or more mainstream music critics do.

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Some deep cuts on the soundtrack albums. But ..not my EP list for sure.

I think it is still open for comments last time I checked. Yes, its funny but I remember some of us complaining that the list should have been top 15 or top 20 to make it a little easier, I mean I had to leave off some very good albums as I recall, like both of his Christmas albums if I remember correctly.

I think it is still open for comments last time I checked. Yes, its funny but I remember some of us complaining that the list should have been top 15 or top 20 to make it a little easier, I mean I had to leave off some very good albums as I recall, like both of his Christmas albums if I remember correctly.

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Time for another one. There's always a million Beatles threads. A Elvis thread ( one of two ) surely no probs.